Get xkcd Cartoons at 2x Resolution

I recently learned a neat trick from Marcus Buffett: xkcd has an undocumented way to get images of the cartoons at double their normal resolution.

The _2x trick 🔗︎

For example, xkcd #2582 “Data Trap” lists this URL as the direct link:

• https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/data_trap.png

That leads to this 275x275px image, quite small by today’s standards:

But there’s a trick! Add a _2x to the filename in the URL:

• https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/data_trap_2x.png

That gives you a version that’s 2x the original resolution, at 550x550px:

I couldn’t find the 2x versions documented or linked anywhere except for some old, obscure reddit posts. I hope this knowledge saves you from stretching out poor, low-resolution xkcd comics.

Update (2025-10-02): My friend Matthew Riley let me know that the _2x URL actually appears in xkcd’s HTML in the image’s srcset attribute:

<img
  src="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/measure_twice_cut_once.png"
  srcset="//imgs.xkcd.com/comics/measure_twice_cut_once_2x.png 2x"
/>

Matthew also did some sleuthing at the Internet Archive and noticed that Randall Munroe added the 2x version for older cartoons recently, as #124 “Blogofractal” had no srcset attribute in this 2023 snapshot, but this 2024 snapshot includes srcset.

Which ones are available in 2x? 🔗︎

Not every xkcd is availble in 2x resolution.

I vibe-coded a Python script to check which cartoons have a 2x-resolution version and published the current list:

• List of 2x-resolution xkcd Cartoons

The earliest version with 2x available is #124, “Blogofractal” (2x version).

Starting with #1084, “Server Problem” (2x version), almost every xkcd is available at 2x-resolution.

Easter eggs 🔗︎

• #1683 “Digital Data”: The 2x version is lower quality than the original.